Demon's Souls (playing and acquiring this beautiful, beautiful game)

[Quinton]

Shipping from amazon.co.jp is damn expensive, but fast.  They use the "get it there in 2-3 days" kind of EMS, not the "get it there in 1-2 weeks" kind.  I'm tempted to order a copy.

[schild]

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/demon%27s-souls

Now with sound!

Edit: Grinding 4-2 because I've got nothing better to do atm. Boring stream.

Edit 2: I am sucking ass. Seems I should've just stayed up and played thorugh the whole thing last night.

[Falconeer]

I just found a LARGE CLUB (it deserves a capital name). It's a huge, spiked baseball bat on steroid. It oneshots lots of things (at my level) and it is cool because all the other weapons I found so far has ADDED PARAMS of Es and Ds while this club has an A for STR, and it shows! When I wield it with 2 hands the bonus really shines and, well, my char is stil a baby but I'd say you never beat the shit out of anything in a videogame until you pick up this club, wield with two hands, and unleash an R2 attack on a few mobs. The animation and the feeling of heavyness are too good for words. You FEEL the hits, it's really like you are actually weilding it, in real life. It has to be tried. This game is so beyond everything else.

Odd note (for me as I am a noob): this is the only weapon I found so far that can't be upgraded. Why?

[apocrypha]

The Great Club can be upgraded to .

I was having the same glee yesterday when I discovered backstabs with a dagger for the first time. The miners in 2-1 that my dagger was tickling gently now go down with 1 hit, and the animation is just awesome    So much easier with a helper or two too - let that blue phantom dude with the polearm occupy them, slip in back, wham dead miner :D

[Quinton]

I finished up the 3-1 boss.  Wow, 3-1 is amazing.  It's a biiig level, has some mean critters on it, and I actually never managed to defeat the black phantom right before the boss (damn thing killed me like 5 times in a row and I finally said "fuck it, I'll take care of you later", and just dodged around).  Amazingly creepy throughout. 

I've been digging into 4-1, getting better at dealing with those damn rolling silver skeleton things.  Is it in any way possible to deal with them if you're ranged only?  I pretty much have to engage them hand to hand because they're just too damn fast to keep my distance from most of the time.  I'm getting pretty decent at taking them down, and with a large shield they often get stunned if they try their primary attack.

Picked up a large shield with hp regen (yay!) and a curved sword that does magic damage (yay!), but still haven't made it all the way through the level.  Just ran into a golden skeleton and wow, it was mean.

I've located and rescued Sage Freke and picked up some fancier magics, which is nice too.  Soul Light is my new standby, but it does eat MP like mad.

So far, 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, and 3-1 complete.  Much more to do!

[apocrypha]

Oh god yeah 4-1 is brutal. I've not found anything ranged that can take them out before they get to you, although Thief's Ring (or Hide spell) and a good bow with Toad Eye Arrows or some such helps a lot. They're weak to blunt weapons btw so 4-1 is the time to dust off and upgrade that mace or club :)

Where did you find the shield with HP regen? That sounds handy, I must have missed that!

[Quinton]

Where did you find the shield with HP regen? That sounds handy, I must have missed that!

Adjudicator's Shield - 90% phys 50% magic blocking, HP regen.

On the way around to the golden skeleton, there's a black samurai skeleton -- it's by him.

[apocrypha]

Ahhh I got that shield but didn't notice it had HP regen! Still a bit big for me, I'm finding I prefer lighter shields and armour in general because I need to stay agile or I die. Shit, I die anyway, just slightly less so if I'm not blundering around like a walrus in plate mail :D

Wish you could wear more than 2 rings tbh. Fragrant ring + Regenrator's ring + Thief's ring would be 

[Quinton]

It is a bit big (was using a buckler +4), but with that and my mage/black armor I'm still able to roll around and dodge like mad, so works for me.  I am all about Cling Ring + Fragrant Ring right now, as I spent most of my time dead, and lean on the magic.

[anchovy]

If u are a magician, suggest u get the Old King's armour at 1-1 Masoleum. Kill Ostrava for the key. It's light n pretty decent defense stats.

[schild]

If u are a magician, suggest u get the Old King's armour at 1-1 Masoleum. Kill Ostrava for the key. It's light n pretty decent defense stats.

I don't mind getting new posters for a game, but do try to not talk like a retard.

[anchovy]

Well, i m terribly inclined to defend myself, but heck, u must have had a bad day.

Enjoy the game!

[schild]

Well, i m terribly inclined to defend myself, but heck, u must have had a bad day.

Enjoy the game!

No, it's just the rules around these parts. Don't be a retard and don't talk like a retard. That's pretty much it. We define what retard is, but the latter is always in effect.

[Quinton]

Coherent, correct, written English is the preferred mode of communication on these forums.  Take a little extra time to actually spell words, punctuate correctly, etc, and everyone will be happier for it.

[schild]

Coherent, correct, written English is the preferred mode of communication on these forums.  Take a little extra time to actually spell words, punctuate correctly, etc, and everyone will be happier for it.

I like the cut of your jib.

[Falconeer]

The crafting system makes me feel uncomfortable. Like if whenever I upgrade something I am gimping myself instead of growing. I noticed the only time you can craft a quality weapon is when the intended weapon is at +3. As soon as you upgrade it at +4 you can't go "quality" anymore. Thing is, the "quality" is worse at first, so it really feels like you are wasting stones and souls.

Worse, Ed was willing to make my Bastard +3 in a Dragon Bastard or a Crusher Bastard (which by the way looked kinda useless... where are special skills like the HP regen supposed to be on item description?), but as soon as I found the needed crystal, it was already upgraded at +4 and Ed wasn't offering the cool versions anymore.

How to avoid such fuckups? Some general rules and/or tips about crafting?

[schild]

You should really try to you know, read the wiki.

[Velorath]

Copy I ordered off Ebay showed up, and I just started playing today.  Good stuff so far.

[apocrypha]

how do you see what tendency you have?

You check the wiki 

Basically you can't really tell unless you are pure black or pure white, then it'll be obvious on the tendency screen. If you've got the Demonbrand and Soulbrand swords then their bonuses change with your tendency but you won't have them until quite late in the game.

[Falconeer]

People, reading the wiki isn't half as fun as sharing info with people you almost like.

I love that wiki, but it is not as good as you. Like the white and black tendencies. Maybe it has been updated now but last time I checked it explained the concept whitout really telling me why I can't see alignement changes as they happen.

Finally, it is spoiler-full.

[apocrypha]

I know, and agree, which is why I also told you what I knew after the obligatory wiki link jibe 

Started a barbarian yesterday which has so far been the hardest character to get through 1-1 (for me). The big meaty club rocks but timing the swings becomes *crucial* when they're that slow!

So far there are only 3 things that I wish this game had:

1) More. I am fervently hoping for DLC at some point.
2) A warning when you're about to end the game. Would really have liked to explore and complete things more before finding myself at The End and then into the, frankly, astonishingly brutal New Game+. Still, lesson learned, I know for the next character!
3) I've forgotten what the third thing was but it was nothing to do with the gameplay. I remembered - I'd like the UI elements to be smaller, or an option to turn the UI off totally. Of course I'd also like this to be coupled with a screenshot capability ;)

[Falconeer]

So the bottom line for crafting is: before ever upgrading a waepon over +3 go to Ed and see what he offers?

[schild]

So the bottom line for crafting is: before ever upgrading a waepon over +3 go to Ed and see what he offers?

Seriously, on the crafting stuff.

Read the wiki. I'm not typing out the entire crafting system and it's worth *not fucking up.* Though, like Lorekeep, you may have already.

The short version is: At +7, some weapons can be made into unique ones. Some can be made at +8 and some can be made at +0. You need Demon's Souls to upgrade them that way and you need to give Ed one specific soul to unlock the upper tier of crafting. So, yea, go look at the wiki.

[Falconeer]

The short version is: At +7, some weapons can be made into unique ones. Some can be made at +8 and some can be made at +0.

That's exactly the short version I was looking for. The wiki doesn't do that.

And oh, I have the red hot soul but Ed is completely uninterested. I talked with him over and over. Same uninterested line.

[schild]

The short version is: At +7, some weapons can be made into unique ones. Some can be made at +8 and some can be made at +0.

That's exactly the short version I was looking for. The wiki doesn't do that.

And oh, I have the red hot soul but Ed is completely uninterested. I talked with him over and over. Same uninterested line.

Is it on you?

Also, walk away from him, and reinitiate. That bat can be wonky. Just like with the jade hairpin and Stockpile Thomas.

The wiki does in fact do that: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/demon-s-souls

"Spoilerish" sure, if the names of the demon's souls bother you. Location and name of each demon soul and what they upgrade to and at what point.

[rattran]

Finally arrived. Korean text all over the manual, but still English in game. It's really pretty, but I suck so hard at it. I'm having trouble with trying to aim and handle the camera in big fights.

I'll play more tomorrow, but at this point I feel it was well worth it.

[Velorath]

It's really pretty, but I suck so hard at it. I'm having trouble with trying to aim and handle the camera in big fights.

Unless you're using bows a lot, there shouldn't be that much aiming.  Haven't had many issues with the target lock on.

[Morfiend]

It's really pretty, but I suck so hard at it. I'm having trouble with trying to aim and handle the camera in big fights.

Unless you're using bows a lot, there shouldn't be that much aiming.  Haven't had many issues with the target lock on.

The only problem with the camera I have had, is that it tends of angle a bit downward, so you cant see the health bars on some of the bigger mobs. But for a game camera, it works very well.

[apocrypha]

Learning when and when not to use the lock-on made a big difference to my fight survival, especially when facing multiple foes. Not being locked-on gives you a lot more maneuverability - I often approach and initiate without lock-on and then flick it on for a backstab or when I've seperated a pair of enemies.

[Ard]

I finally got my copy last night, and mostly for Schild's ego, the developers did indeed somehow invoke Robot Jesus in the making of this game.  Not much more to say since he's already said it 3 or 4 times now.

[apocrypha]

I've been digging into 4-1, getting better at dealing with those damn rolling silver skeleton things.  Is it in any way possible to deal with them if you're ranged only? 

Been farming these a bit today cos I need souls! Got them down pat - Wooden Catalyst, Thief's Ring, the ring that increases magical damage (but decreases magical resistance - dodge those arrows, they're magical!), Soul Light spell and club or mace (+2 mace works nicely) on weapon switch. Edge to just within lock-on range and hit them with Soul Light. If you're lucky you can get 2 Soul Light's off and that's one dead skellie. If they reach you before you get the 2nd cast off then switch to mace while side-dodging then slap 'em twice, dead skellie.

Soul Light is great for this because you can hit 2 at once if you've got a pair coming at ya.

In other news the black phantoms seem to be increasing in frequency. Every single time I've resurrected today I've had an invasion into my game in under a minute. Started camping for them now.... kill boss, rez, warp to archstone, gear up, hide..... wait... ambush invading fucker 

Oh and I killed the red dragon in 1-1 by bow sniping it and I didn't get the acheivement! Grrr!

[schild]

Oh and I killed the red dragon in 1-1 by bow sniping it and I didn't get the acheivement! Grrr!

That's because you have to kill the blue dragon in 1-4 also.

[apocrypha]

Ohhhhh I see. Thanks 

[ahoythematey]

Finally "ordered" this from ncsx, now begins the long wait until they restock and ship.

PSN handle: ahoythematey

[Wasted]

Got my wife to order a copy of it for me on ebay.  I hate ebay, and importing stuff, I'm going to be a nervous wreck until the game arrives.  I just know something is gonna fuck up with the order.